Sword Art Online - An Unexpected Adventure
by Moonsoul121
Summary: Sword Art Online, over 10,000 players were trapped in the Aincrad. Despite this only very few individuals managed to make a difference... but what if there was someone who while not being the hero of Aincrad... that person was still able to make a difference in the world of Aincrad. (follows the major plot points in the canon but subtle but major changes are there)
1. Prologue

**Author Notes: I Do Not Own Sword Art Online**

**Prologue: A New Game**

Ryan visited his friend, Ivan who was working the night shift at a computer shop near their apartment when he noticed a flier outside the shop.

A huge castle made of stone and steel floating in an endless sky.

That was all this world was.

It took a vagarious group of craftsmen one month to survey the place; the diameter of the base floor was about 10 kilometers – large enough to fit the entirety of Setagaya-ku within. Above, there were 100 floors stacking straight upwards; its sheer size was unbelievable. It was impossible to even guess how much data it consisted of.

Inside, there were a couple of large cities along with countless small scale towns and villages, forests, and plans, and even lakes. Only one stairway linked each floor to another, and the stairways existed in dungeons where large numbers of monsters roamed; so discovering and getting through was no easy matter. However, once someone made a breakthrough and arrived at a city of the upper floor, the «Teleport Gates» there and of every cities in the lower floors would be connected making it possible for anyone to move freely through these levels.

The name of the castle was «Aincrad», a world of battles with swords that continued floating. Otherwise known as…

«Sword Art Online»

Wondering what kind of game that would be like, Ryan entered the shop and saw that his friend was currently busy with a customer, so he decided to walk around the shop while he waited. As he was meandering around the store he found promotion stand where one of the new Japanese virtual modules were being put in display. Grabbing one of them, Ryan decided to try it out and put it on his head. Smiling to himself, he pretended to hold a sword in his hand and practiced a few swings with the rolled up newspaper in his back pocket, when he heard clapping. Turning around he found his friend grinning at him, smiling wryly, he replaced it back in the stand.

"You looked funny and cool at the same time, dude." Ivan jokingly told him.

"Yeah, I know. By the way, what's the deal with that flier outside?"

"You mean the one about "Sword Art Online"? It's the first ever virtual computer game ever, in fact, what you were just playing around with is what will be used in going into the game." Ivan answered.

"Really? That would be so cool to be a part of it."

"Yeah, the game is supposed to be launched next week and guess what."

"What?"

"I got us two copies of the game as well as two brand new Nerve Gears." Ivan beamed with the news.

"Nerve Gear?" Ryan asked with a questioning look.

"What you were just using, dofus."

"Oh… well forgive me if I haven't been keeping up with the times. Been busy with school." Ryan answered back.

"Well don't worry… by this time next week… We will be heroes of Aincrad." Ivan said with an excited look in his eyes.

"Yeah… and you'll be my sidekick." Ryan snickered as he said that.

Ivan just laughed at what he said, knowing that Ryan would most likely be one of the top players considering he was an avid gamer.

"So you coming or what?"

"For what? Dinner? Nah… I gotta work late… these things cost a lot and I have to do double shifts just to help pay for these."

"Alright then, see you later…" Ryan said as he made his way out, "Oh and thanks for the news."

"No problem dude." Ivan answered back.

Outside the store, Ryan looked at the twinkling stars in the skies and smiled to himself as he muttered, "Sword Art Online huh… this will be good."

**Ending Author Notes: **Sorry for the short beginning, this was just a teaser and an intro and also I changed up the introduction a bit. Anyway, looking for people who MIGHT be interested in being a part of this story… if you are, the format for the addition will be in the profile (Hopefully). Thanks


	2. Chapter 1: Anticipated Opening

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN SWORD ART ONLINE**

_**CHAPTER ONE: ANTICIPATED OPENING**_

It has been almost a week since Ryan found out about the upcoming launch of Sword Art Online from his friend, Ivan, and during that time, he has kept himself busy with school as well as the visit from his girlfriend who was currently working in Hong Kong. He also spent time catching up on any news that might pertain to Sword Art Online imminent launch as well as reading the guide book that came along with the two copies of Sword Art Online the day before the launch.

"Here you go." Ivan exclaimed as he passed one of the copies of the game to Ryan.

"Thanks" Ryan said as he caught the copy, "Hey… there's a guide here. This should come in handy."

"I expect so. But there might be a bit of a problem for you with that." Ivan said as he snickered.

"Really? What's that… damn it all… it's in Japanese!" Ryan exclaimed as he smacked his head with his palm.

"I noticed that earlier at the shop. So tell me, oh great one, how's your Japanese?"

"Pitiful… oh well… I'm pretty sure there's a guide as well inside the game that can be translated into English by the software." Ryan said as he tossed the book beside him and started examining the NerveGear.

"By the way, have you figured out how the language problem is resolved?" Ivan asked as he made his way into the kitchen.

"I think so. It's all in the programming so even if they speak in Japanese to us, we'll just hear them speak in English and vice versa. I read about it in a magazine a couple of days ago," Ryan stated as he experimented with the NerveGear by putting it on his head.

"Great! So are we going out to eat or are we cooking tonight?" Ivan asked as he rummaged in the refrigerator.

"Let's eat out. I'm not really in the mood to cook tonight."

"Alright then, but do you mind if you pay for my meal?"

"Sure, no problem considering you did get us this game." Ryan said as he removed the NerveGear.

"Great! Come on, let's go." Ivan said as he made his way to the door. "I'm starving!"

"Alright, alright! Wait for me."

* * *

Ryan relaxed himself in the living room of the two bedroom apartment that he shared with his best friend, Ivan. Checking the watch one more time, he noted that it was almost 11AM, just as his stomach grumbled loudly. Chuckling to himself, he realized that he was starving since he hadn't eaten his breakfast earlier. As he made his way to the small kitchen and opened the mini-fridge, Ryan found out that Ivan must have gone shopping before he left for work earlier. As he prepared a tuna sandwich, Ryan began to reminisce about his girlfriend who was currently working in Hong Kong as a teacher. After settling down at the mini-table, Ryan chewed thoughtfully about what his plans for the game might include. He knew that he wanted to be a swordsman preferably without a shield even though he knew it would be a major handicap; he knew that he could pull it off especially if he found some good equipment for himself. He also realized that he should also try and learn about the different passive skills. After finishing up the tuna sandwich, Ryan decided to take a quick nap while he waited for the opening of the server. As Ryan lay down on the sofa again, he closed his eyes just as he thought back on what he and Ivan discussed as they made their way home after eating their dinner.

"_So what are your plans for us in this game?" Ivan asked him as they walked back to their apartment._

"_Why are you asking me?"_

"_Well, it's obvious considering you have more gaming experience as well as knowing you; you'll probably take charge easily." Ivan pointed out._

"_True enough. I'd probably start a guild or something… and you're going to be my right-hand man. Isn't that right?" Ryan joked as he lightly punched Ivan's shoulder._

"_Hmmmm, I don't know. Maybe I might get a better offer. I mean a strong warrior wielding a giant axe would do wonders for any **OTHER** guild." Ivan said before he ran off laughing at Ryan's expression._

"_TRAITOR!" Ryan mock shouted after him before chuckling at the receding figure knowing that he could count on him to be there._

_Walking at a more sedate pace on his way home, Ryan thought back that some of his college classmates are probably going to be joining the opening since he overheard several of them talking about the game in class although he didn't avidly participate since they were talking in Japanese and he was still trying to learn the language since he didn't bother learning it back home._

Ryan suddenly jerked himself awake when his phone started vibrating just as an annoying sounding voice pierced the quite atmosphere, "HOY! Meron nagtext sayo!" Muttering to himself, he grabbed his phone that was on the table beside the sofa and checked the message. [Hey, I might take a bit longer to get home, probably around 3. Why don't you go on ahead and I'll catch up. See you later in Aincrad! – Ivan], smiling to himself, Ryan glanced at the clock on his phone and saw that it was still 11:20AM. After pressing the on/off button and tossing it back unto the table, Ryan lay down on the sofa for a quick nap.

* * *

Apple smiled to herself as she lugged her backpack and suitcase with her through the airport. This is going to be such a surprise for him, she thought to herself, as she exited the airport. Glancing quickly for an unoccupied taxi, she began to imagine all kinds of fun stuff they could do when she gets to his apartment. Smirking playfully, she patted the bag she held that contained her special outfit that she pre-ordered when she was here last week. Noticing an unoccupied taxi, she hurried to it and got in just as a young man in a business suit who was talking on the phone and appeared to be in a hurry, walked briskly towards her. Smiling impishly at the young man, Apple got in the taxi and gave directions to an apartment in Tokyo. The young man watched with a wry expression on his face at the taxi as it pulled away just as his boss shouted on the phone asking if he was listening to him.

As the taxi dropped her off at the apartment, she searched her purse for the key that he gave her. After finding the key, she let herself in and walked softly around the apartment searching for him. She found him resting on the sofa with his eyes closed. Grinning mischievously, she went into his bedroom and took out the special outfit that she bought and put it on. Coming out of the bedroom, she straddled him and gave him a lingering kiss on his lips until slowly he responded to her kiss and opened his eyes to stare right back at hers. Breaking off the kiss, he murmured one word to her… "Apple"

* * *

Ryan stared drowsily at his girlfriend who just woke him up in the most alluring way possible. Placing his hands on her face, he gently pulled her back for a kiss before sitting up on the sofa. It was then that he not iced what she was wearing.

"What's that you're wearing?" he inquired as he wryly smiled at her and at what she was wearing.

"Oh this?" Apple cheekily replied, as she stood up and twirled around in front of her boyfriend. The skirt from the high school uniform she ordered briefly rose as she twirled in front of her boyfriend before posing with her fingers formed in a V. "Do you like it?" she asked before giggling at herself. "It's for the Zombie Outbreak Tokyo scheduled for next month."

Chuckling at her response, "Ah, I wondered what the reason was for you wearing a school uniform. I see you came fully prepared." Standing up in front of Apple, Ryan hugged her tightly, whispering "I missed you so much."

She returned the hug, "I missed you too" She answered back before dragging him to the kitchen and sat down, "I'm hungry. Feed me, my Ry."

"Alright, but don't you have work today?" he asked her as he moved to prepare another sandwich.

"Nope, no work this week as well as next week. There's going to be a thorough inspection of the staff and the part-time staff was given two weeks off as a result. So… here I am."

"Ah… I see… Well I'm glad you're here," he sincerely told her as he finished making the sandwich. Sitting down beside here, he handed the sandwich to her. "Here you go."

"Thank you," she said as she took a bite from the sandwich. She savored the food in her mouth since she skipped breakfast earlier to get the first plane to Tokyo. "So… what are your plans for today?" She asked her boyfriend.

"Huh? I was gonna try out that new game, Sword Art Online, when Ivan gets back later at 3." Ryan answered her sheepishly.

"Video games again? I should have known. Hey, I have an idea," Apple suddenly said.

"What is it?"

"Why don't we go into the game together, I'm sure Ivan won't mind that much if I borrowed his NerveGear for awhile, right?" Apple beamed at her bright idea.

"I'm pretty sure he won't. Besides, we can all take turns using the NerveGear." Ryan replied, getting excited at the prospect of playing with his girlfriend.

Glancing at the clock he noticed that it was almost 1 o'clock and the server was just about to open.

"Hey, it's almost 1 o'clock. We should get back to my room. The server is about to be launched soon. And we still have to set up the NerveGear." Ryan told Apple.

"What?!" Apple exclaimed in shock. "You haven't set it up? Why?"

"I fell asleep… that's why," he replied, chuckling.

"Well you can go on ahead and set it up; I need to finish unpacking my stuff." Apple told him.

"Alright, come on. Let's go." Taking her hand, they made their way to his bedroom.

As they entered Ryan's bedroom, they each went to different areas of his room. Ryan spent his time setting up his own NerveGear as well as going into Ivan's room to borrow his NerveGear so that Apple can use it. Meanwhile Apple was busy at the bathroom changing her custom–made school girl outfit and into a pair of shorts and a white blouse. Going back into Ryan's room, she noticed that he was hard at work setting up the two NerveGears so she decided to keep herself busy by unpacking her belongings. After making sure that everything worked perfect exactly while checking the English translation in the manual to see if he missed anything vital, Ryan smiled as he realized that everything was now set. Glancing at the wall clock he saw that it was already 1:10; they missed the grand opening by a couple of minutes. Walking towards Apple who was busy placing her clothes in the cabinet he bought just for her, Ryan decided to help her unpack so that she wouldn't be bothered later when they logged out. After a couple of more minutes, they finally finished unpacking Apple's belongings and they eagerly lay down on the bed. Smiling at each other, they both put on the NerveGear and thought, "System Start"

* * *

Ryan took his time in developing the looks for his avatar, making sure that he had semi-spiky hair as well as light blue eyes. He also made sure to color the avatar's complexion so that he's skin tone was light-brownish so as to differentiate himself from others as well as a tribute to his native land. After confirming his avatar's name as Lans, he was teleported to the «Starting City». Lans stood there as he took the scene where he found himself spawning, admiring the game's visual effects as well as the diverse group of people that were still appearing at the great plaza. Smiling to himself, he went off in search for Raika so that they could begin their new adventure in Aincrad.

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: Thank you to Apple for the proofreading/editing. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter.**


	3. Chapter 2: The Beginning

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the delay, Christmas season really was troublesome, so I wasn't able to type out that much so as a late Christmas gift, I'm going to make this chapter as long as I can while making sure the content is necessary… hopefully this chapter will introduce reviews :) Also thanks to Rushe84 for his OC contribution but I would like to apologize in advance for tweaking his appearance as well as the statistics, which followed the average RPG character statistics. In regards to this, despite extensive research (a.k.a. viewing Wikipedia and other websites related to Sword Art Online) I have been unable to find out WHAT are the base statistics of the game's avatar so in hindsight, I will focus on the five major statistics in every role playing game, which are strength, dexterity, perception, agility, and luck. I will go into further detail at the next chapter. Enjoy and REVIEW! Please… Oh and I do not own Sword Art Online.

CHAPTER TWO: THE BEGINNING

Aincrad

Location: Town of Beginning, 1st Floor

Timeline: November 6, 2022, 1:15 PM

Lans walked around the plaza as he looked for his girlfriend, Raika. As he wandered around the plaza, he gradually began to appreciate the attention to detail the programmers of the game had in creating «Aincrad» and began to eagerly anticipate the combat system which he heard was one of the game's better features according to the beta testers. After a complete circuit around the plaza and not able to find any sign of Raika, Lans decided to make his way to the marketplace, which would be the most logical place to go for beginners, almost colliding into someone who looked like he was in a hurry. After arriving at the marketplace, Lans noticed that majority of the players were congregated here as well, making his search much more cumbersome. Sighing to himself at the seeming impossibility of finding Raika over the hundreds of people, Lans sat down at a bench in a nearby park and tried to check on the player interface.

"Hmm, we should have agreed to meet somewhere instead of blindly looking for each other." Lans mused to himself as he familiarized himself with his interface.

After viewing his status, which showed that he had 0 points in all of his statistics, Lans was bemused at this new information since there were usually points in them in most games but seeing as this was a totally new game, he decided to let it go. The option below his status was the inventory option and he found out that he was carrying the standard «Broad Sword» in his bag, which was usually considered as a default weapon in most RPG games. Lans clicked on the sword and was pleasantly surprised when the sword's basic information materialized on his interface. He was a mildly confused when he found the required statistics underneath the name as «Strength: 0» and «One Handed Straight Sword Skill: 0» but decided that since it didn't require anything, Lans clicked on the «Equip» icon and was pleasantly surprised when the sword and its sheath materialized on the left-side of his waist.

Lans stood up and took out his broad sword with his right hand and was surprised that despite its appearance it didn't feel as heavy as he thought it would. Feeling confident, he raised his sword as he imagined an enemy in front of him before smiling to himself and sheathed his sword.

"Hmmm, I wonder what «One Handed Straight Sword Skill» means," Lans murmured out loud as he stared at the sky, when someone suddenly said from behind, "It's a skill related to the use of swords that have a straight blade, such as your «Broad Sword», which allow the players to use special skills associated with that type of sword, hence the term «One Handed Straight Sword Skill »."

"Huh?!" Lans freaked out when he heard the voice but when he turned around he saw that it was just another player, a player wearing a hood that covered the hair but the face clearly showed that the player was female, he also noticed that the player clearly had whiskers on her face. As Lans stood there dumbfounded as he stared at her, the player coughed lightly before saying, "Your welcome." Flabbergasted at what had transpired, Lans tried to salvage his dignity, "Sorry about that, you just caught me off-guard since I didn't think anyone would be standing behind me. Oh… and thank you for the information about «One Handed Straight Sword Skill ». Anyway, the name's Lans." Lans said as he stretched out his hand.

The female player smirked at what had transpired before taking his outstretched hand, "My name is Argo the Rat, and I'm an information broker."

"An information broker?" Lans repeated, as he realized what that meant and what it might mean for him as he looked anxiously.

Seeing the reaction on his, Argo laughed, "Haha don't worry… I won't charge you for the information I gave you since its common knowledge. Besides, I deal with information that other players would actually earn me money as well as prestige."

"Ah… you almost had me there. For a minute there, I thought I would have to pay you for the information." Lans replied, clearly relieved that he wouldn't have to pay Argo anything… yet.

"Anyway, to get straight to the point, I noticed that you seem to be looking for someone. Am I right?" Argo asked, with a gleam in her eyes.

"Uh… yeah, I'm looking for my girlfriend, Raika. We were supposed to meet up but I forgot to specify an area since were both new to this game. I thought it would be easy to find her in this place." Lans answered sheepishly, hanging his head down at his stupidity.

"Your right, it is an easy enough process." Argo answered with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" Lans asked, clearly interested in what she had to say.

"Well… normally, I wouldn't charge for this information but since I already gave you a freebie, I'll expect compensation for the information." Argo stated, "So do we have a deal?"

"Fine, how much will this cost me?" Lans asked, as he activated his interface again to check how much money he had and found out he had 1,000 col.

"Not a thing, really, but in exchange for helping you out, I'm going to need you to be one of my sources in the game. Think you can handle that?" Argo answered smiling widely.

"Hmmmm well, I guess that would work out alright." Lans answered slowly, "So how does that work? How will I find Raika?"

"It's a simple matter really." Argo said as she opened up her interface, "Just sent you something." she said with a smile.

Lans was surprised when a notification popped up in front of him, [**Argo has asked to be your friend**] Smiling to himself, he pressed on the "Yes" icon and realized that he already had a way to find out where Raika was.

"I see from your expression, you realized what I meant by it being a simple process." Argo smirked at the expression she saw at Lans' face.

"Yeah, I can't believe I never thought about it. I'm such an idiot." Lans remarked, as he accessed the friend list and sent a friend request to Raika, but was surprised when a system message arrived, [**Could not locate Player Raika**].

"That's weird. The system couldn't find her." Lans remarked.

"She's probably not within a 100 feet radius of you or she's probably in a building right now." Argo answered before taking his hand and dragging him to the marketplace, "Don't worry about it. Let's go back to the marketplace, she's probably there."

_Earlier at the plaza…_

Raika stared in awe at the virtual world she now found herself in, as she materialized into the world of «Aincrad».

"_This should be fun"_, Raika thought to herself as she began searching for Lans but soon realized that it would be a hopeless case as she didn't know what his avatar looked like. Deciding to explore for a bit and let Lans himself look for her, Raika headed towards the market in search of bargains that she could take advantage of.

After arriving at the bustling marketplace, she opened her interface after asking one of the other players on how to access her user interface. She noticed that she had a 1,000 col as well as a «Broad Sword» in her inventory. Knowing that she wouldn't be avidly using the sword in the game, Raika decided to equip the sword until she finds Lans, before buying her own personal gear. Raika smiled to herself, when the sword materialized on her waist, before continuing on her way at the market. Glancing at the numerous wares that were available, Raika deciding on a whim; bought one of the apples that were currently on sale at the cheap price of 25 col. As she made her way to a nearby bench and sat down, she took a bite out of the apple, enjoying the sweetened taste of the fruit in her mouth. After eating the apple until only the core remained, the apple shattered into pixels. Smiling to herself, Raika stood up and made her way to the plaza while thinking to herself, "_This game is getting very realistic considering I could enjoy that apple as if it were the real thing._"

As Raika made her way to the plaza, she spied a building with a shield and sword on its logo, realizing that it was a weapon's store, Raika went inside the building which was aptly named, «The Sword and Shield». Once inside, she spied that there were only three others players inside the shop. As Raika approached the clerk at the counter, "How may I help you?" the clerk asked Raika. Unsure on how to respond to such a question, "I'd like to browse your weapons, please." Raika answered uncertainly until the interface opened in front of her, showing various types of weapons for her perusal. Chagrined at the amount of money many of the weapons she liked cost, Raika was about to close the interface when she noticed the category "Throwing Weapons" at the bottom. After accessing the category, she found to her delight that the common «Throwing Dart» was very cheap costing only 2 col each. Smiling to herself, Raika bought 250 «Throwing Dart», as well as a pouch where she could store 50 «Throwing Dart» in case she needed to use them. After paying for her purchases, Raika realized that she now only had 375 col. Thinking that it was now time to find her boyfriend, Raika left the store unaware that she had garnered the attention of the three players especially the one who was equipped with a flanged mace.

_Meanwhile…_

Lans and Argo arrived at the "entrance" to the marketplace.

"Alright Lans, we've here at the marketplace. Why don't you try adding your girlfriend now?" Argo asked.

"Good idea." Lans answered, as he accessed his interface again and sent a friend request to Raika, smiling to himself when the system didn't interrupt this time.

_At that moment…_

Raika was just stepping out of the store, when a notification appeared in front of her [**Lans has asked to be your friend**]. Smiling to herself, she clicked on the accept option and sent out a quick message to Lans, [Lans, I'm at the «The Sword and Shield». I'll wait for you here, alright?].

As she was making her way to the bench nearby, one of the guys at the shop went in front of her, "Good day, fair lady, my name is Nueichi and it would be my privilege if you would consent to join me and my friends."

Raika was getting annoyed at this idiot that was blocking her way but when he said friends, she glanced behind her and saw the two other guys she saw at the store standing beside her and she realized that she might be considered as trapped. Raika looked back at the guy that called himself "Nueichi" and upon seeing the condescending smile that appeared on his face, irked Raika a lot. Just as Raika was about to excuse herself, Nueichi grabbed her wrist and proceeded to "lead" her to the bench she was about to sat down at earlier, and this really pissed her off. Pulling her hand away from him, Raika glared at Nueichi and his condescending face and shouted at him as loudly as she could, "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"

_At that precise moment…_

Lans and Argo were on their way to the «The Sword and Shield» when they both heard a very loud shout almost like a scream. Lans and Argo looked at each other before Lans ran toward where the shout came from, muttering to himself "Shit!" since he knew that voice belonged to Raika. Argo, on the other hand, stared in confusion as her new friend and source ran towards where the shout came from before realizing that there might be trouble coming, she stopped to equip her «Iron Claws» before rushing after Lans.

_Meanwhile…_

"Moi? I am Nueichi, your new friend." Nueichi answered confidently when the young woman, he and his friends had followed outside, suddenly pulled her hand out of his grasp.

"And what shall I call you, my dear?" Nueichi asked as he took a step closer to the young woman, "Such exquisite red hair" he murmured as he tried to caress her hair.

Seeing what he was about to do, Raika moved backward and suddenly bumped into one of his friends. Now getting pissed off at what was happening, Raika began shouting at Neuichi, "My dear?! You don't get to call me that because I don't even know you and I couldn't care less about what you and your retarded minions want!"

Nueichi winced at the loudness of her voice as well as several players were now eyeing them, several of them giving him the dirty look but he was not concerned since he knew that nothing bad would happen to them. "Oh such harsh language should not come from a beauty such as yourself. You are correct, you might not know me, but I am sure with some gentle persuasion and time," Nueichi moves even closer to Raika, "I am sure that you and I will become close friends." He said with a smile.

"In fact, why don't we start now?" Nueichi asked as he grabbed ahold of her right arm once again. Seeing this, Raika tried to pull her arm back but Nueichi wouldn't let go, as he grasped her arm tighter.

"I'm warning you… if you don't let go of my arm this minute, you'll be in big trouble!" Raika threatened, as she couldn't grab ahold of her sword since the bastard was holding her sword-arm.

"What are you planning to do then? Hmm… urk…" Nueichi began tauntingly when he realized that a sharp blade was right next to his throat.

"Let my girlfriend go right now… OR ELSE." Lans calmly threatened as he held his sword at the bastard's neck.

Seeing that he was now in a precarious position, Nueichi let go of the young lady's arm.

"There, I released her, care to take your sword away from my throat… arghh" Nueichi started to say when the young lady unsheathed her sword and walloped his face with the flat side of the blade. Although he knew that he wouldn't get seriously hurt, due to the physics of the game, Nueichi was blindsided by the sudden attack and fell down a couple of feet away from them, as the physics engine compensated the damage done to him by the attack and reverted it into force.

As his two friends rushed to aide him, Nueichi glared at the young lady and her companion. Standing up on his own, Nueichi grabbed his flanged mace and shield, "How dare you?!" Nueichi shouted at Raika.

Raika was about to answer back when Lans placed a hand in front of her, "I'll handle this clown." Lans told her before activating his interface to send out a duel invitation to Nueichi, as well as placing the «One Handed Straight Sword Skill» into the available skill slot in his equipped skills.

Nueichi glanced at the duel invitation and noted it stated {Duel Invitation: Lans; Duel Condition: 50% HP), after glancing at Lans' lack of armor and shield, he smirked and accepted the duel.

"Let this be a lesson to all of you, no one insults me, Nueichi." Nueichi proclaimed as he took up a combative stance, by hefting his flanged mace with his left hand and his shield with his right hand then positioning it in front of him.

Seeing that Nueichi has accepted the duel, Lans also took up a combative stance, his right hand grasping the sword tightly as he positioned his hand away from his body while placing his left hand in front of him.

As the countdown reached 0, Nueichi wasted no time in charging at Lans, as he lifted his mace and brought it down hard, using the momentum and his strength to shatter his opponent's feeble sword if he tried to block the mace. Lans didn't bother trying to block the attack; instead he evaded the attack by taking a step back and then swung his body backwards to the left. By using the momentum of his move, Lans was able to slash at the unprotected back of Nueichi as well as throwing him off-balance, as the attack propelled him forward. Glancing at Nueichi's HP, Lans smiled as he realized that he managed to strike Nueichi with a critical hit, which lowered Nueichi's life by 10%.

As Nueichi lay down on the floor, he was caught off-guard by what Lans did since he wasn't expecting such a counter from him. Standing up, Nueichi realized that while it was clear that this guy was a complete novice in Sword Art Online, he was well-versed in how to fight. Knowing this, Nueichi chose to go on the defensive, as he raised his shield in front of him while readying his mace.

Lans smirked as he saw Nueichi take up a defensive position. After a moment of mentally analyzing the possible attacks he could utilize, Lans realized that in such a situation, conventional attacks won't work very well considering he only had one sword in his arsenal and that Nueichi definitely knew how to use his shield. "_So you're now defending yourself admirably, I can't spot any possible weakness which I can exploit. I guess it's time to try out the Sword Skills._" Lans thought to himself, as he swung his sword in the appropriate position for the «Slant» technique and launched forward at Nueichi.

Seeing Lans launch straight toward him with his sword glowing brightly, "_That's a sword technique!_" Nueichi realized. He braced himself just as the sword impacted on his shield, resulting in Nueichi being pushed back by a few centimeters, but thankfully the defense stat of his shield was much higher than that of the sword so his HP didn't went down at all. "_Now's my chance to take him out!"_ Nueichi thought as he took advantage of the technique's cooldown by swinging his mace at Lans waist.

"_What the hell?! Why can't I move?_" Lans was momentarily at a loss as to why he was unable to move at all after he successfully performed the sword technique. As he stood there after his unsuccessful attack, Lans glimpsed Nueichi's mace just as it smashed heavily into his waist, which took out 12% of his life. At that moment, the technique's cooldown finished, and Lans quickly jumped backwards away from Nueichi, not realizing that by doing so, 3% of his life was also taken down due to the fact the mace's spikes were embedded into him as he jumped backwards.

"_We're roughly even now… What now? What can I do?"_ Lans thought desperately, as he slanted his blade in a defensive posture.

_Meanwhile…_

To the various spectators of the duel, those who expected a quick match between the two "novices", were surprised at how the two seemed evenly matched despite their different weapon styles. Argo was especially watching the match with interest, "_Lans really seems to know how to fight, too bad he didn't take into account about the effects of the cooldown those techniques have."_ she thought to herself as she stood behind Raika, who was focused on the fight as well as cheering for Lans, amongst the gathered bystanders.

"Go Lans! You can take him!" Raika cheered as she watched her boyfriend jump back after being hit by the mace.

_The duel…_

"_He's on the defensive?"_ Nueichi thought as he watched Lans take up a defensive position, "_I guess this time, I should repay the favor!"_ Nueichi decided as he copied what Lans did earlier, with his mace.

"_I'm running out of options here."_ Lans realized when Nueichi was going for the same technique he performed against him, judging by how Nueichi was positioning his mace.

"Oh SHIT!" Lans muttered when Nueichi suddenly launched himself at him. "_How the hell am I gonna stop this attack? I don't have a shield!"_ Lans thought frantically as he prepared himself against the technique, when he suddenly realized something wrong with Nueichi's attack. "_Why isn't his mace glowing like my sword when I performed that technique?_" Lans wondered as he jumped back at the last second and narrowly dodged the attack.

"What the hell?!" Nueichi shouted in surprise as he narrowly missed hitting Lans again.

"_Now's my chance!_" Lans thought to himself as he realized that Nueichi was now in a vulnerable position. As soon as Lans' both feet landed on the floor, Lans launched himself forward while performing the «Slant» technique once again.

Realizing that Lans was coming at him, Nueichi tried to bring his shield forward in an attempt to block the attack.

Seeing what Nueichi was trying to do, Lans willed himself to go faster in his attack.

Just as the shield was about to make contact with the sword, the sword slipped past the shield with just inches apart. Everyone watched in awe as the sword struck Nueichi's exposed wrist and cleanly severed it from his body, as both hand and mace fell to the floor, both of them shattered into polygons as it landed on the floor.

Just as Nueichi started screaming in shock at losing his hand, a notification appeared between the two duelists, [**Duel Winner: Lans**]

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Hope you review ^^

**CHARACTER INTRODUCTION**

Lans (Ryan)

Raika (Apple)

Nueichi (OC given by Rushe84)

**STATISTICS FOR THE CHARACTERS THAT AFFECT THE STORY**

Strength – Affects the amount of damage a weapon, character's HP, as well as the weight capacity of a character.

Agility – Affects the speed of the character.

Perception – Affects several skills that affect the character's ability to "see" their surroundings.

Dexterity – Affects the characters ability to use their "hands"

Luck – Unknown factor that affects the character.


	4. Chapter 3: Salvaging a Legacy

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I DO NOT OWN SWORD ART ONLINE. SORRY FOR THE VERY LONG DELAY

CHAPTER THREE: SALVAGING A LEGACY

**Aincrad**

**Location: Town of Beginning, 1st Floor**

**Timeline: November 6, 2022, 1:30 PM**

Lans breathed easily as he saw the notification that proclaimed him as winner but cast a weary glance at Nueichi as he continued to scream in shock at the loss of his hand, when his two companions approached him and tried to calm him down while glaring at him. "_This is not good… those guys look as though they want to gut me. Better not take any chances._" Lans thought to himself, as he relaxed his grip on his sword while keeping an eye on the Nueichi and his companions.

Nueichi glared at Lans as he held his severed wrist as his companions mumbled comforting words that he wasn't paying attention to as all his attention was on his wrist and the person who sliced his hand. "_This isn't over…_" Nueichi thought as he stood up straight and motioned with his left hand, "Kill him!" Nueichi screamed at his companions.

Upon hearing what Nueichi screamed at, Lans lifted his sword once again and prepared himself to fight once again.

Nueichi's two companions unsheathed their respective blades and started to approach Lans when they were blocked by several people.

"Hold it, right there. Lans won't be alone this time!" Raika proclaimed, as she stood in front of Lans with her sword raised in front of her.

"Stop this right now! You lost, Nueichi. Fair and square, so why don't you scurry off." Argo told him off, as she stood beside Raika while pointing her clawed hand at Nueichi.

"This has gone long enough. I will not allow your companions to harm this person just because you lost a duel." A young man stated, as he walked in front of Nueichi's companion, while two other guys stood behind him.

Seeing that the situation they were now in was now against them, "Alright, we'll back off… but this isn't over, Lans! I'll have my revenge. Just wait and see." Nueichi declared, as he motioned his companions to back off. With that, the three of them left them.

"Thanks for the assist," Lans said with relief, as he sheathed his sword, "For a minute there, I thought there would be an all-out brawl or something."

"Well, I couldn't let you have all the fun now, can I?" Raika said, as she sheathed her sword as well. "Besides they were asking for it."

"Lans, you sure know how to make an entrance." Argo exclaimed, as she watched the spectators walk away since the situation was now resolved.

"Which reminds me, Lans, who is she?" Raika asked Lans, as she looks questioningly at Argo.

"Well you see… she's a…" Lans stuttered, as Argo started giggling at the situation her new source currently found himself in.

At that moment, the young man and his companions that helped them approached them, "That was a spectacular duel you put on for us," he said, as he held out his hand to Lans.

"Thanks, it was definitely a challenging one." Lans said as he eagerly grasped the offered hand, thankful for the interruption.

"Perhaps but you definitely handled yourself well during that fight." The young man answered in kind, as they shook hands.

Feeling slightly annoyed at the interruption, Raika inserted herself in the conversation by moving beside Lans and smiling at the young man, "And you are?" she asked.

The young man was momentarily caught off-guard by the interruption before answering, "Oh right, I haven't introduced myself."

"My name is Tetsuya, and this is my friend, Kyoya" Tetsuya answered as he motioned to the black-haired youth to his left and then to the brown-haired youth to his right, "and my cousin, Shun. We were just here to buy some supplies when your duel happened."

"Are you a beta?" Shun asked.

"Uhm… nope, I'm not a beta but…" Lans replied sheepishly, before motioning to Argo, "she is."

Argo glared at Lans for telling them that she was a beta, before sighing and moving forward, "Hey, the name's Argo," she said as she raised her hand for a handshake, at Tetsuya.

"Argo?" Tetsuya asked in surprise as they shook hands, "You mean to tell me, your Argo the Rat? The infamous information dealer during the beta test?"

"Infamous?" Kyoya asked Tetsuya.

"That's right. She got her name from the whiskers she had during the beta test." Tetsuya answered.

"How did you…" Shun was about to ask, "That will be a million col, if you want to know the answer." Argo said while smirking at the stunned look.

"Your joking… right?" Shun asked weakly, as he looked back and forth between Tetsuya and Argo.

"She never jokes about information or money, cuz. Leave it be." Tetsuya answered, as he snickered at Shun's reaction to Argo's style of business.

"So I guess this is goodbye, we're off to try and fight some monsters and get stronger. Thanks for the assist by the way." Lans told the others.

"I have a better idea, why don't you guys join us for the moment." Kyoya offered.

"He's right. I don't think Nueichi is the type of person who wouldn't take advantage if it's just the two of you walking outside the safety zone." Argo said.

"Safety zone?" Raika asked in confusion, "What's that?"

"Safety zone are areas where players can't have their health diminished even if they are attacked, unless of course they accept a duel." Lans answered.

"That's right." Argo answered, "How did you know that if this is your first time here?"

"This might be my first time in this sort of game, but the notion of safe zones has been around for quite awhile now, Argo." Lans said.

"Hmmmm… aside from that, I think their offer is good." Raika stated, as she tapped her foot.

"Tetsuya?" Shun asked, looking up at his cousin.

"I guess it's decided then, you two are joining us." Tetsuya conceded, "Let's meet up at the south city gate while we all stock up in supplies. We'll see you guys at 2pm?"

"Alright, see you in a bit then." Lans answered, "Argo, how about you?"

"Nah, I still gotta meet up with my other sources, but stay in touch alright, remember you're my source now." Argo stated.

"I won't, but I'm not sure if I'm going to be a good source."

"It doesn't matter, I just need any unique information that you might come across. Well it was nice to meet all of you. I have to go now. Good bye" Argo said, as she bowed in front of them before leaving the group.

"Bye Argo" The group said as Argo left.

"Well then, let's get started." Tetsuya said before snapping his fingers.

"That's right, before I forget." Tetsuya said, as he both added Lans and Raika in the party as well as sending them friend requests.

"Thank you." Lans said as they both accepted the party invite and friend request.

"Oi… don't forget about us." Kyoya and Shun both said, as they sent their friend requests as well.

"We didn't." Raika snickered, as they accepted their requests.

"So I guess we'll meet up later. Bye guys." Lans said, reaching out to hold Raika's hand and pulling her closer.

"Let's go, my." Lans whispered softly so that no one could hear.

"Hmmmm, lets." Raika agreed as they went on their separate way.

The three guys stared at the couple as they went off on their own.

"Lans sure is lucky." Kyoya said.

"Raika is lucky as well." Shun added.

"How so, Shun?" Tetsuya asked.

"Despite being a noobie to this game, Lans still managed to win a duel." Shun answered.

"Which reminds me, how come the technique that Nueichi tried to copy off of from Lans didn't work?" Shun asked, as he looked up at Tetsuya for the answer.

"That's because the «Slant» technique and it's positioning of the weapon, is unique only for the «One Handed Straight Sword Skill», and since Nueichi was using a mace, it didn't work for him." Tetsuya answered.

"So that's it…" Kyoya muttered softly.

"Well enough about that, let's get going. We have a lot of work to do before we log out." Tetsuya told his companions.

xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx

**Aincrad**

**Location: Town of Beginning, 1st Floor**

**Timeline: November 6, 2022, 1:50 PM**

Lans and Raika arrived early and were waiting at the south city gate for their companions, when they spied a small outdoor café nearby. They decided to wait there instead of at the gate since they were both feeling a bit thirsty. As they approached the café,

"It's great that we found this café, right dy?"

"Yeah, this game is really something. I'm feeling a bit thirsty, you want something to drink?" Lans asked.

"Sure, but do you think we have enough money? You did buy a lot of stuff." Raika pointed out.

"Hmmm I still have 200 col. That should be enough… I hope" Lans said sheepishly.

"You hope?" Raika chuckled before grabbing Lans' hand and pulling him inside the café.

Once inside, the couple saw that the interior of the café while small was artfully designed with several small booths that catered to couples, such as themselves, as well as larger table areas for groups. There were also several players that were obviously going on a date except for a guy that was sitting in the far corner of the café alone. Raika smiled at Lans, before dragging him off to the counter, where a young woman stood.

"Hello and welcome to 'Ellyn's Café', I'm Ellyn, the proprietor and owner of this establishment. How may I help you?" The young woman asked.

"Hello there Ellyn, we'd like to place an order for an iced tea and apple juice." Raika ordered, "We'd also like to make use of the table outside, if that's alright."

"It's no trouble at all," Ellyn answered, "Now its iced tea and apple juice, correct?"

"Yes." Lans answered.

"Very well then, why don't the two of you go on ahead outside and take a seat while I go and prepare your drinks." Ellyn replied, as she went inside the door that they assumed was the kitchen.

Lans and Raika went outside the café and sat down at one of the tables that were intended for two people. After a few minutes of waiting, they noticed Ellyn exiting the café, carrying a tray towards them.

"Let's see now, who wants the iced tea?" Ellyn asked.

"I do." Raika answered.

"Here you go then." Ellyn answered as she placed a glass of iced tea in front of Raika, before placing the apple juice in front of Lans.

"And here is yours as well. Enjoy." Ellyn said, "I'll go back inside now. Just go inside when you're done. Hope you enjoy it"

Ellyn bowed at them and went back inside. While they enjoyed their drinks, they decided to finalize their upcoming plans for the game.

"So are you still interested in making a guild?" Raika asked as she took a sip of her iced tea.

"Yeah, I've already decided on the name." Lans answered as he also took a sip of his apple juice.

"Ows… you mean you're NOT going to use the name of almost every guild you manage?" Raika teased him.

"Fine… I guess you know me too well." Lans laughed at her teasing.

"So I guess this will be another incarnation of the 'Spectres' guild." Raika pointed out.

"Pretty much, too bad most of my friends won't be here, but hey, at least this gives us a chance of making new friends." Lans said with a smile.

"True. Speaking of which, I wonder where our new friends are." Raika asked.

"Hmmm let me check," Lans said as he activated the internal clock in his interface, "It's still 1:58, but they should be arriving here soon."

"Hmmmm well I'm done. How about you, are you finished?" Raika asked as she placed her empty glass on the table. "That was delicious."

"I'm done too. And it's delicious." Lans agreed.

"What's delicious?" A familiar voice asked from behind them.

Lans and Raika looked behind them to see Tetsuya, Kyoya, and Shun watching them with a bemused expression.

"I see you guys went and found some time to relax while we went and scoured for equipment." Shun impishly said with a grin.

"Hey, we're also well prepared as well." Lans pointed out, "but yeah, we definitely found time for fun."

"Alright, so why don't you guys go in and pay for your drinks so we can go on our hunt." Tetsuya said.

"Sure, just give us a sec." Lans said, as he and Raika made their way inside.

"Let's go in with them, I want to check this place out." Kyoya said as he watched them, "I might even bring a lady friend here some day."

After saying that, Kyoya followed after the two. Tetsuya glanced at Shun and just rolled his eyes before going inside with Shun trailing after him.

As they entered the café, they spotted Lans talking to the proprietor of the café. As they approached their friends, they managed to overhear part of the conversation.

"So let me see… Your order is apple juice and iced tea? That will be 200 col." Ellyn said.

"What? 200 col for just an apple juice and iced tea? That's a rip off." Shun exclaimed when he overheard the price.

Lans just glanced at Shun before facing Ellyn again and asked, "Why is the price so expensive?"

Lans was suddenly astonished when a gold question mark suddenly appeared on top of Ellyn, signifying a quest, as well as a pop-up that appeared in front of him with the notification, «The Missing Supplies» quest.

After agreeing to undertake the quest, Ellyn started to talk, "Well you see, I get most of my supplies at a small orchard nearby and they're a couple of hours late. I'm very worried because without those supplies, my café will soon go under. I've also heard that several monsters are now attacking the trade route that the orchard usually uses. I have a great idea. Instead of paying for the drinks, you can go and check out what happened to the supplies that were supposed to be here. I'll point out in your map where the orchard is and I'll also give you this, so that the people working there will know that you're representing me. Good luck and I hope you'll come back soon with the supplies."

Ellyn handed Lans a small medallion, «Ellyn's Token», as well as marking a location in his floor map.

"Uhm… we'll be right back then with your supplies, Ellyn. Come on, Tetsuya, I might need your help with this" Lans stuttered in surprise at the situation he know found himself in.

"Thank you. I'll be waiting." Ellyn answered with a smile, as the group left the café. The lone player who was minding his own business in the far corner was startled by the group that had just left and immediately followed after them.

Outside the café, the others crowded around Lans as he showed the others the location of the orchard on his floor map, while the location was still shrouded by the fog in his map it was fortunate that it was just a few miles away.

"That was surprising." Tetsuya said with a smile.

"Why is that?" Lans asked.

"For one thing, I didn't even know there was a quest like that. For another, I think you stumbled upon a _Unique Quest_." Tetsuya answered.

"I see your point, still, is this going to affect your plans?" Lans asked since they were supposed to go farming.

"Nah, it won't affect much. Besides we can farm around the mobs that will spawn near us as we make our way to the orchard." Tetsuya said.

"Alright then, let's go." Raika said as she made her way to the gate.

"Hey wait for us!" The rest of the guys shouted after her. They were unaware that one player that had left the café followed after them.

xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx

**Aincrad**

**Location: A few miles away from the Town of Beginning, 1st Floor**

**Timeline: November 6, 2022, 2:45 PM**

The group of people took their time hunting any of the monsters that spawned near them as they made their way to the orchard. Lans and Tetsuya were both proficient in handling swords and became the vanguard of the group. While Lans was wearing the basic «Leather Armor» set, which provided adequate protection while being versatile enough that the encumbrance wasn't an issue. Tetsuya on the other hand was wearing «Iron-Plated Leather Armor» set which he received from a quest earlier. While it was similar to the «Leather Armor» set, it had a higher Defense but was offset by a decrease in the player's movement but he was using a «Long Sword» he had bought to replace his «Broad Sword» which was essentially better than the «Broad Sword»; he also used a «Round Shield» for defense. They were the first to mount an attack against any of the monsters that spawned near them although Tetsuya also helped in defending those whose lives were close to reaching yellow by employing his sword and shield. Kyoya made do with the «Iron Polearm» as well as wearing the «Leather Armor» set and took on the role of defending their long-range specialist, Raika, who had gotten proficient in utilizing her throwing darts to cause long-range damage since her first slot was «Throwing», while her second and third skill slot were «Detection» and «Tracking» which greatly aided her as well as wearing the «Leather Armor» set and using the «Broad Sword» as a backup. Rounding out the group was Shun, who was wearing the «Iron-Plated Leather Armor» as well as wielding a «Round Shield» and an «Iron Mace», which he skillfully employed both in attacking and defending, especially during the cool-down period whenever Lans uses his sword techniques who steadfastly refused to pair it with a shield. With Tetsuya's guidance as well as knowledge on how the fighting system worked, they made short work of their enemies that challenged them.

By the time they neared the destination, they were well on their way to reaching Level 3 because of the higher leveled mobs that they fought on their way, when they spied upon a convoy being attacked by several doglike creatures. Suddenly a pop-up notification appeared in front of them, «Missing Supplies» updated and a «Protect the Caravan» quest prompt.

After agreeing to the quest, the group ran to help the convoy, Lans shouted at the others "The enemies are called «Kobold Bandit» and it looks like they are Level 5. We'll have to work together to bring them down."

"Right, it's a good thing there are only three of them or we'd be in big trouble." Tetsuya remarked as he ran towards one of the Kobold Bandits and activated **Sonic Leap**, the attack lowering the life of the Kobold Bandit (10% Damage).

"I'll cover you," Lans called out, as he ran to assist Tetsuya who was still in the midst of a cooldown, when he caught sight of something approaching him at the corner of his eyes and just managed to avoid getting hit by the other Kobold Bandit's sword by sidestepping out of the sword's way.

Raika, seeing that Lans wouldn't be able to assist Tetsuya, took out one of her Throwing Darts and threw it at the Kobold Bandit that was just about to attack Tetsuya's frozen form. She smiled as the Throwing Dart managed to hit one of its eyes directly, causing critical damage (12% _**Critical Damage**_) as well as stunning the Kobold Bandit.

Shun and Kyoya meanwhile ran to the farthest Kobold Bandit, who was in the midst of stabbing a wounded NPC with his sword. Just as the blade was about to reach the NPC, Shun jumped in front of the approaching blade with his shield raised at the last second, which effectively blocked the attack. Meanwhile Kyoya thrust his polearm at the back of the momentarily vulnerable Kobold Bandit and dealt a small amount of damage (5% Damage) since he wasn't able to use any of his weapon techniques because he was pressed for time.

Tetsuya braced himself for the attack as the Kobold Bandit raised his blade and was grateful when the Kobold Bandit suddenly took a step back just as the «Stunned» icon appeared over its name. Taking advantage of the situation once he was able to move, Tetsuya unleashed a dozen sword strikes at the Kobold Bandit's stunned body that ended with him utilizing one of the perks of using a shield, a special technique which he used to great effect as he activated the **Shield Bash** that stunned the Kobold Bandit once again. Glancing at the Kobold Bandit's life, Tetsuya smirked as he noticed that he's attack had chipped away 32% of its remaining life, bringing its life to yellow as well as retaining the stunned status. Lifting his blade once again, Tetsuya charged at the Kobold Bandit intending to kill it quickly.

The Kobold Bandit that had attacked Lans was momentarily off balance as his blade passed by Lans. Seizing the moment, Lans utilized the same exact move he had used on Nueichi against the Kobold Bandit with devastating results as his sword dug deep against the back of the Kobold Bandit dealing critical damage (18% _**Critical Damage**_). Swiftly moving away from the Kobold Bandit, Lans raised his sword just as the Kobold Bandit charged towards him again.

While Kyoya was unable to utilize any of his weapon's techniques against the Kobold Bandit, Shun had no problem whatsoever of using the mace version of the **Uppercut** technique, as his mace impacted on the Kobold Bandit's head dealing 12% damage as well as pushing the Kobold Bandit back.

Raika glanced around and was grateful that none of her companions where in any danger, but that didn't mean that she couldn't help them out. Taking out two of the Throwing Darts in her pouch, Raika sighted at the Kobold Bandit that was rushing towards her boyfriend and threw them, hoping that she might get lucky. As the Throwing Darts raced toward the intended victim, she became slightly aware of someone approaching them from behind but as she looked behind her, she saw no one. Shrugging to herself that she was just imagining things, she looked back just as the two throwing darts she had thrown struck both eyes of the Kobold Bandit, dealing two critical hits (10% _**Critical Damage**_ each) as well as stunning the Kobold Bandit.

Meanwhile, a couple of meters away from behind the group that were busy fighting, a player that had been slowly stalking the group while using the «Hiding» skill, breathed easily when the girl focused back on the fighting. "That was a close one," the player murmured softly.

Lans was momentarily taken aback when the charging Kobold Bandit suddenly stopped in its track before he noticed the throwing darts that had appeared in its eyes before dissolving. Smiling at Raika's timely assistance, Lans lifted his sword and activated the **Vertical** technique, his attack dealing 14% damage.

Kyoya jumped a couple of steps back as Shun's **Uppercut** pushed the Kobold Bandit back a bit. Seizing the chance, Kyoya lifted his polearm up high and activated his polearm's technique **Slam**, bringing the polearm crashing down once again on the Kobold Bandit's unprotected back dealing more significant damage (18% Damage).

Tetsuya knew that the longer he took in dispatching the Kobold Bandit the likelier the chance that one of his companions would be in trouble. So he sought to kill the Kobold Bandit by imitating one of the mid-level sword techniques he had become proficient with during the beta, **Vertical Square** and finished it off with an actual sword technique, **Vertical Arc**. The damage Tetsuya dealt was only 42%, which brought the Kobold Bandit's total life to red but was not enough to kill him. That fact cost Tetsuya dearly, since he's first attack broke the stunned status the Kobold Bandit had while the sword technique he used meant he was momentarily unable to move as the cooldown counted down, Tetsuya was unable to defend himself as the Kobold Bandit's sword slashed down at his body, dealing 60% damage as well as crashing his body down on the ground, his life now in the yellow. Tetsuya could only stare as the Kobold Bandit lifted his sword once again.

The hidden player watched intently as one of the Kobold Bandits prepared to end the life of one of their group.

Raika who was busy watching out for Lans during his fight, barely noticed when Tetsuya went down. Stifling a scream, Raika quickly reached down and pulled out three throwing darts and threw them as fast as she could. As the darts raced toward the target, Tetsuya lowered his head and prepared for his death, vowing to catch up back to them as soon as he respawns back at the «Town of Beginning». He suddenly heard a grunt from up above him, lifting his head, Tetsuya saw that two of the darts had embedded against the Kobold Bandit's shoulders while the third dart completely missed it. The Kobold Bandit shattered into pixels just as its life bar went empty.

Shun seized the chance that Kyoya had given him from his attack and activated **Shield Bash**, stunning the Kobold Bandit (4% Damage) before lifting his mace up high and activating another general technique, **Horizontal** across the Kobold Bandit's face (12% Damage), Kobold Bandit's head whiplashing hard to the left, as the mace's impacted on the Kobold Bandit's head.

Kyoya reacted quickly just as his cooldown finished counting down and lifted his polearm again and activated **Smash** once again, the blade sliced through the Kobold Bandit's neck just before the Kobold Bandit shattered into pixels (60% _**Critical Damage**_).

Meanwhile Lans was completely unaware of what had transpired amongst his companions, he followed up his **Vertical** with a technique that he recently learned **Bull Crush**, by jumping towards the Kobold Bandit while lifting his sword up high and slamming the blade down as hard as he could at the Kobold Bandit's shoulder down to its waist (32% Damage), the force of the attack causing the blade to cleave through the Kobold Bandit's body and impacted on the ground. As he tried to pull back his sword, Lans was chagrined to find out that his sword was deeply embedded on the ground. Just as he looked up at the Kobold Bandit, he realized that its sword was already heading towards him. Lans jumped back as fast as he could but he was too late as a good portion of the sword slashed through his chest and he landed on his back while his armor shattered into pieces and put his life in the red (80% Damage). Lans could only stare feebly as the Kobold Bandit lifted its blade once again before a sword was thrust from behind it. The Kobold Bandit let out a roar before it shattered into pieces.

Tetsuya sheathed his sword before extending his hand to help Lans up.

"Thanks. I thought I was a dead," Lans said, as he stood up with Tetsuya's help.

"Don't worry about it. Your girlfriend saved my life, so I consider saving her boyfriend a fair trade," Tetsuya said with a wink.

"Well then thank you, Raika." Lans said to Raika who had just run up to him and gave him a hug.

"Huh? For what?" Raika asked since she wasn't able to hear what had transpired between Lans and Tetsuya.

"It's nothing," Tetsuya said, just as a notification popped up in front of all of them.

[Congratulations You Leveled Up!]

"Finally, we're all Level 3. It sure took awhile." Tetsuya said to the rest of them as he closed the notification. Another notification popped up in front of him as well as Raika and Kyoya.

[You have received «Kobold Bandit's Blade», «Kobold Bandit's Fur» x5, and «Kobold Bandit's Tail» and 6,000 col]

"What was that about?" Lans asked them as they closed the notification.

"Mob loots from the Kobold Bandits," Tetsuya said as he opened up his inventory to check on his new sword, "I got the «Kobold Bandit's Blade»".

"I got that as well," Raika said as the blade materialized on her hand, "but I'm not really proficient in swordsmanship, so I'll just give this to Lans." Upon hearing that, Lans mouthed a silent thank you at her causing Raika to smile.

"Excellent idea, I've never heard of the «Kobold Bandit's Blade» during the beta but the stats here are on par with the «Anneal Blade»," Tetsuya said, as the «Kobold Bandit's Blade» replaced his «Long Sword» at his waist.

"Aw… I only got mats from the Kobold I killed," Kyoya jokingly whined, as he stared at the new swords that now hung at Lans and Tetsuya's waists.

"Don't worry about it, Kyoya. You're not a sword-user anyway, so it's not a big deal," Shun told him, while whacking the back of his head.

"Hehe I know that, but still the sword is a sweet upgrade," Kyoya said, chuckling.

"Anyway, let's go talk to that caravan guard you guys saved," Raika said, as she pointed out to the surviving caravan guard who now had a gold question mark above his head.

"Good idea. Let's go." Lans said as he walked to the guard, while the rest followed after him.

As they approached the wounded caravan guard, it slowly stood up once Lans stood in front of him. Lans was quiet for awhile since he wasn't sure how to continue the quest and decided to ask the guard a simple question.

"What happened here?" Lans asked.

The wounded caravan just stared at him before, "Thank you for saving me, good adventurers. I feared for my life when those Kobold Bandits chased after us when they attacked the orchard a few miles away."

"What?! The orchard is being under attack right now?" Lans exclaimed in consternation.

"Yes, we were just on our way to make the deliveries when the kobolds attacked the orchard. It was led by a large fearsome kobold wielding a strange weapon. The owner of the orchard ran after us and told us to get reinforcements but we were chased after by the kobolds. I am grateful for your aid but I fear that I am close to death's door. Please... help my comrades at the orchard," the guard pleaded just as he fell to his knees.

"We will. We'll save your comrades. I promise." Lans told the guard.

"Thank you. The orchard is over there…" the guard pointed to a building that was nearby and was on fire. "Please hurry…" the guard muttered before falling over on the ground and shattering into pieces.

A notification popped up in front of Lans, «Protect the Caravan» completed and a «Save the Orchard! – Check out the Orchard» quest prompt.

"We have to hurry or the orchard will be a smoldering ruin soon," Tetsuya states as he stared at the billowing dark smoke that was hovering over the area where the orchard was located.

"Your right, Tetsuya, let's go." Lans exclaimed as he started to charge towards the orchard when Tetsuya grabbed his arm, "Aren't you forgetting something, Lans?" he asked.

"Like what?" Lans asked bewildered by the question.

xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx

The player hiding amongst the trees sighed in relief when the group left the caravan. He slowly inched forward toward the abandoned cart and disabled his «Hiding» skill once he realized that there was no one else around. "Let's see what we have here." He mused to himself as he activated the chest that he found on the other side of the cart.

"Humph… only oranges and apples. Nothing overly useful." The player muttered to himself softly. Just then he heard voices on the other end of the cart. He quickly activated his «Hiding» skill just in time, when three players emerged to his right.

"You're sure that Lans and his friends just passed by here?" asked the young man in the front, with the dark buzz-cut hair

"Yeah boss. They made mincemeat out of those kobolds." One of the players told him, blonde-haired.

"Sheesh, I bet those kobolds were weak leveled. That's why those losers managed to beat them. So where did they go to now?" their boss asked.

"They ran over there to that building." The other player told him, red-haired.

"They probably ran there to hole up and lick their wounds." The boss spat out in disgust, "I'll have my revenge against those bastards."

"You will have your revenge, boss and this time, we'll be here to mess those bastards that stood in your way before," the red haired player told him.

"Let's go after those bastards," the boss told them as they walked towards the building nearby.

Once the three players were gone, the player that was hiding disabled his «Hiding» skill and muttered, "What's with those three?"

xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx

**Aincrad**

**Location: The Orchard, 1st Floor**

**Timeline: November 6, 2022, 3:10 PM**

Lans and his companions ran through the gateway that took them into the courtyard of the orchard, and were surprised at the number of kobolds that were fighting against the guards. A quest prompt appeared in front of Lans, «Save the Orchard! – Defend the Guardians»

"I can see seven «Kobold Skirmisher» in the courtyard." Shun pointed out.

"Yeah, and there are only four «Orchard Guardians» that are fighting against them." Kyoya added.

"The «Orchard Guardians» are at a higher level than the «Kobold Skirmisher» but their numbers will probably overwhelm them soon." Tetsuya added as well.

"Alright, fan out and let's cover these guys. We can't allow these guys to die." Lans told them as he gripped the handle of his newly acquired blade tightly.

"Why not?" Raika asked as she took out several throwing darts from her pouch and placed it on her sash.

"Don't you remember what the guard said earlier, the kobolds were led by a large kobold, and I don't see any kobolds here that fit the description, so we'll need the help of these Guardians." Lans answered.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!" Shun said as he ran towards one of the nearby Orchard Guardians who had just dropped down to his knees and was in danger of being killed.

The Orchard Guardian feebly tried to raise his sword to try and deflect the killing blow from the Kobold Skirmisher's sword when a shield appeared in front of him from out of nowhere and the Kobold Skirmisher's sword impacted upon it. Looking up at his savior, he saw him push his shield forward which startled the Kobold Skirmisher and gave his savior the chance to bash the side of the kobold's face with his mace. The Kobold Skirmisher shattered into pieces as it fell to the ground.

Shun look back at the Orchard Guardian and extended his hands and said, "Come on. Our friends need our help."

The Orchard Guardian grasped the offered hand and answered, "Yes they do, but give me a moment. You go on ahead, I'll be fine, and by the way, my name is Maxwell. Hurry it looks like the others will need your help."

Shun was slightly startled when the name Maxwell appeared beside the NPC's title. "Alright, take your time but we might need your help soon." He said before running towards the others who were now aiding the other Orchard Guardians.

When Shun rushed out to aid the fallen Orchard Guardian, the others rushed into action. Lans and Tetsuya brought out their swords and performed the «Sonic Leap» against the two Kobold Skirmishers who were ganging up on one the Orchard Guardian, killing them instantly.

The Orchard Guardian stared in surprise at the two swordsmen who had suddenly appeared to aid him, "Huh? Where did… Never mind. I thank you for your assistance. I would have died if you hadn't arrived." He said to them.

"Don't worry about it. Come on, let's go help the others." Lans said as he rushed forward to aid the others. Tetsuya just rolled his eyes at AI's response before chasing after Lans.

"I'll just stay here for the moment, I need to rest." The Orchard Guardian called out after them as it sat down on the ground.

Kyoya meanwhile ran towards one of the Orchard Guardians who was being pushed back towards a wall by the Kobold Skirmishers. "Can't have that now can we." Kyoya thought to himself as he activated «Smash» at the back of one of the Kobold Skirmisher who still hadn't noticed him, instantly killing it. The other Kobold Skirmisher turned its head to focus on Kyoya when it let out a death shriek before shattering into pieces when the Orchard Guardian's sword was thrust into its head.

As Raika ran towards the farthest Orchard Guardian, she withdrew four throwing darts from her sash before stopping a few meters away from the Orchard Guardian and the two Kobold Skirmishers who were still battling each other and threw the throwing darts towards them. Two of the darts hit both eyes of one of the Kobold Skirmishers and was stunned for a moment. One of the darts only grazed the other Kobold Skirmisher neck while the other dart hit the Orchard Guardian's exposed neck which momentarily stunned him long enough for the Kobold Skirmisher's attack to get through its defense. Raika could only stare helplessly as she tried to gather more throwing darts just as the Kobold's sword slashed the Orchard Guardian's chest. Just as the Kobold Skirmisher raised its sword for the killing blow, it suddenly shattered into pieces when two swords went through its chest. The stunned Kobold Skirmisher was killed by the arrival of Shun who just smashed his iron mace against the Kobold's face.

"That was a close one." Lans muttered as he sheathed his sword while Tetsuya and Kyoya helped the Orchard Guardian to stand up.

Raika ran to the Orchard Guardian and bowed in front of it, "I'm really sorry about hitting you earlier."

"Do…" Tetsuya was about to say when, "Don't you worry about it, young lady. It was an accident nothing more. Besides, if it weren't for you and your friends, we would have been dead," the Orchard Guardian replied.

The others could only stare at the Orchard Guardian in wonder when it looked at them, "What are you staring at?" he asked.

"Uhm… nothing." They all stuttered in response, while the other Orchard Guardians approached them.

"Well… let's get down to business then. I assume you didn't just come upon us by chance. So who sent you?" The Orchard Guardian named Maxwell asked them, a question mark appearing over his head.

"That's right. We were sent here by Ellyn to check up on what happened to her shipment. This should identify us." Lans answered him as he handed over Ellyn's Mark to Maxwell.

"Ah… Ellyn… such an angel," Maxwell murmured softly. "But as to the matter of her shipment, we already sent it off just as the kobolds attacked us."

"Lans, I think the shipment was in the caravan we just saved." Shun said.

"Most likely, but we can't just leave right and deliver the shipment right now, can we?" Raika pointed out to the others.

"She's right. For better or worse, we have to take out the kobolds that are still harassing the orchard," Kyoya agreed.

"Hmmm… I thank you for your aid, but might I offer a suggestion?" Maxwell interrupted.

"Of course. Any help you can offer us would be helpful," Lans answered.

"Very well, I assume that all of you will stay in defending this orchard against the kobold pillagers," Maxwell asked.

"Correct." Tetsuya answered.

"Very well then, one of our own has been injured and while he might wish to fight against the kobolds alongside us, I would much rather…" Maxwell started to say.

"But captain! I want to stay and fight by your side," the injured Orchard Guardian pleaded.

"I know that's what you want, Ian, but we must be practical. You're badly injured and we have a larger kobold force to deal with soon. I cannot allow you to fight in your condition BUT you might be able to help our new friends with their errand, which is to deliver the shipment to Ellyn's." Maxwell told him.

"Very well, Captain, but I'll need a horse and only the owner of the orchard can issue one," Ian pointed out.

"Damn it… Lans, I'll have to ask you to find the owner of the orchard, he should be in the homestead over there. Be careful though, several Kobold Pillagers entered the house just as the raid began but I expect the master to have killed them already, he's an excellent swordsman," Maxwell asked.

"No worries, I'll look for him in a bit but first we need to discuss this kobold raid you just said is coming soon." Lans answered, just as a quest prompt appeared in front of him, «Save the Orchard! – Defend the Guardians» completed and a «Save the Orchard! – Check on the Orchard Owner» quest prompt.

"Alright then, here let me show you something," Maxwell said as he produced a faded parchment for them to see, "I got this from the leader of the Kobolds that attacked the place."

_Gnarl, attack the orchard for food. We need it badly. I will assist you as soon as I can. It will probably take an hour for me and my men to arrive. I expect the orchard to be ours by then. – Bullfang the Kobold Prince_

"Quite articulate for kobolds, don't you think?" Tetsuya remarked.

"They also possess a hierarchy of some sort," Raika added.

"What time did the Kobolds arrive?" Lans asked.

"They arrived here at around 3 PM," Ian answered.

"Alright… we have at least a half hour's time to prepare, but we'll need more than just the eight of us, if we expect to win," Lans stated, just as another quest prompt appeared in front of him, «Save the Orchard! – Defend the Orchard»

"Yeah and most of the players around are still at a low level right now, and they probably won't stand a chance even if they do come and help out," Shun pointed out.

"Yeah but that doesn't mean we're going to let these Kobolds do as they please," Tetsuya answered. "There are still a few friends I can call on for help, but it will take time for them to come here as well as get themselves ready."

"Alright… You guys do what needs to be done, I'll go look for the owner of this orchard. With any luck, he might be able to help us out. I'll see you guys in a bit then," Lans told them before making his way to the house.

"Raika… is Lans a guild leader or something?" Kyoya asked.

"Huh…" Raika was broken out of her concentration by the sudden question. "Yeah, he's a guild leader in several MMORPG games. Why do you ask?"

"No reason, we just noticed that he's both used to leading as well as letting others handle what he can't do," Tetsuya answered with a smile. "That's a good quality for a leader."

"A trait which you lack, Tetsuya," Shun added with a smile.

"Hey…" Tetsuya answered testily, as he wacked the back of Shun's head with his hand which he evaded easily.

"Touchy aren't we," Shun teased.

"Oh, shut up. I have to contact my friends now." Tetsuya answered in response, as he opened his friend list.

"Well that was fun. Come on Shun. Let's go see what we can to get this place ready for the incoming raid," Kyoya said as he jogged off towards the hole on the wall.

xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx

_Meanwhile, at the gate…_

"Nueichi, what now?" the red-haired player asked their leader.

"I don't know," Nueichi muttered in frustration after witnessing what had happened earlier in the courtyard when Lans and his companions killed the Kobolds easily.

"Those guys are at a whole different level now," The blonde-haired player remarked. "Did you see the levels of those Kobolds? And they just killed them like they were nothing."

"Yeah… and something tells me that things are just heating up around here," Nueichi remarked.

"So what's the plan, boss?" The red-haired player asked.

"We'll fall back for now, but mark my words, those bastards are not getting away with what they did earlier," Nueichi told them, before leading his party back to Starting City.

The hidden player let out a sigh of relief as the three players left the gate. "That was a close one. I thought for sure those guys were going to attack them head-on." He thought to himself as he remained hidden in the bush that was near the gate. Suddenly he heard a ping and a message popped up in front of him. After reading the message, the player just smiled and whispered softly "This is interesting…" before moving inside the orchard and making his way to the barn.

xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx

_At the Orchard House…_

Lans entered the house cautiously, his hand gripped tightly on the hilt of his blade. After surveying the hallway for any sign of ambush, he made his way to the room on his left. In the room, he noted that there must have been a fight in the room as evidenced by the mess in the room. Making his way back to the hallway, Lans decided to call out, "Hey! Anybody here?" as he prepared for an ambush. He was suddenly surprised when he heard an answer to his shout, "I'm up here!" Making his way cautiously up the stairs, wary of being caught unaware, he saw the owner of the orchard, an old man, sitting down on the second floor hallway. Approaching the man, Lans knelt down and asked, "Are you alright, sir? What happened?"

"The kobolds attacked if you didn't know that. But judging from how you moved, I'd say you already knew that." The man answered gruffly. "As to whether or not, I'm alright. I'll have to say I don't have long to live. It was a good life but I think it's time for me to meet up with my wife who passed away a few years ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that… but the kobolds will be coming back soon. We need your help," Lans told him.

"So those beasts are coming back are they?! Shame I won't be able to pay them back for what they did to my home… but maybe you can…" the old man said, a question mark appearing above his head.

Grimacing slightly at how this quest kept changing on him, Lans asked, "How can I help?"

"That's more like it. Kids like you should listen to their elders. Anyway cough I don't have anyone else in my life cough and this orchard is the only thing that I have ever since my wife passed away cough the fact that you're here, as well as offering to help in saving this orchard means that you care cough so what I'm proposing is I'm going to give you this orchard cough cough," the old man told him.

"What?" Lans was floored by what the old man just said.

"Huh? I thought I made myself clear cough alright then. I'm giving you my orchard. Here," the old man said as he gave Lans a piece of paper as well as his medallion.

[Received «Orchard Contract» and «Diaz Family Crest»]

"You're now the owner of my legacy cough. Don't let me down, young man. Oh… this sword might be of use to you," the old man added as an afterthought, as he handed his blade to Lans.

[Received «Diaz Family Sword»]

"I'm coming, dear," the old man murmured softly just as he shattered into pieces.

Lans could only stare where the old man had just been lying, as he gripped tightly at the old man's legacy in his hands.

xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx

_At the wall…_

"Those kobolds sure did a number on this wall," Kyoya pointed out at the large hole at the orchard's perimeter wall.

"Yeah… too bad we can't fix it up without the owner's permission," Shun said sadly as a system message appeared in front of him as he touched the wall. [You cannot initiate any action without the owner's authorization]

"I guess there's not much we can do then," Tetsuya said as he and Raika made their way towards them.

"So how'd it go?" Shun asked.

"I messaged several of my friends and they said they would try to come and help us out," Tetsuya told them.

"I also messaged Argo and she said that she'd see if she can come up with more people to help out but she couldn't guarantee it," Raika added.

"Hey… is that Lans coming?" Kyoya pointed out to the others as he noticed Lans approaching them slowly.

"Your right, but I don't see anyone with him," Maxwell pointed out.

"I wonder what happened…" Raika mused to herself as she noticed Lans' expression was a bit morose.

"What happened to the owner?" Maxwell asked immediately when Lans was just a few meters away.

Lans could only look at him before producing the letter and the medallion and showing it to Maxwell. "Your master is dead…" Lans answered softly.

Maxwell could only stare at the letter and medallion before looking back up at Lans. "No, he isn't. My master is now you. This place is now yours," Maxwell said as he handed back the letter and medallion back to Lans. "This is what my friend and mentor would have wanted."

Tetsuya and Raika walked over to Lans. "So what happens now, Lans?" Tetsuya asked while Raika hugged him from behind.

"I don't know… but we can't let those Kobolds destroy this orchard …" Lans stated with conviction.

"We won't let them." Maxwell and the others said.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I might need more OC's if you guys are interested.

END OF CHAPTER THREE UPDATE

Lans L3 – Kobold Bandit's Blade; Leather Armor Set

Raika L3 – Broad Sword; Leather Armor Set

Tetsuya L3 – Kobold Bandit's Blade; Round Shield; Iron-Plated Leather Armor Set

Shun L3 – Iron Mace; Round Shield; Iron-Plated Leather Armor Set

Kyoya L3 – Iron Polearm; Leather Armor Set

QUEST UPDATE:

The Missing Supplies

Protect the Caravan

Save the Orchard!

- Check out the Orchard

- Defend the Guardians

- Check on the Orchard Owner

- Defend the Orchard


End file.
